By Théoden Janes

tjanes@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Sunday, Jun. 13, 2010

On his way to becoming the first member of his family to attend college, Butler High School student Ivel Posada hit an unexpected road block: One of his top choices, UNC Chapel Hill, was less than encouraging.

"They never invited me to their original scholarship weekend," he recalls. "The person who I spoke to basically told me that my application didn't have anything that deviated from the average applicant."

Fortunately, one of Ivel's fallbacks came through.

This fall, the 18-year-old son of Cuban immigrants will secure his name in both family history and Butler history when he becomes the first graduate from the Matthews school to attend Harvard University. Ivel joins the Class of 2014 in a year when a record-low 6.9 percent of applicants were accepted by the storied Ivy League school.

Not bad for a kid who didn't have any sort of economic advantage, a boy who came to Miami from Cuba with his mother and four other relatives at age 4, who didn't have the benefit of English-speaking parents who could help him with his homework.

Ivel's family - mom, Aixa, dad, Ivel, and 8-year-old sister, Britney - moved to Charlotte when he was in eighth grade. And since arriving at Butler in 2006, he's been an academic force, piling up more A's than a crate of batteries, posting a 5.19 weighted grade point average, and winning enough adoring teachers and staffers at Butler to start a fan club.

Ellen Mennitt, his school counselor: "He is one of the most incredible students that I've come into contact with."

Shari Mudd, his AP science teacher: "I have never had a student who even comes close to his ability to convey thoughts ... so eloquently and persuasively."

Brynn Hall, his AP calculus teacher: "I know Ivel is proud to say he is going to Harvard. But Harvard will soon learn to say that they are extremely proud to have Ivel."

High school struggle

On a personal level, high school wasn't as easy for Ivel as it might seem: He says the thing he will remember most about his Butler years is coming to grips with his sexuality.

"For a long time, that was something I had to struggle with - in the ninth grade, up to 10th grade, I was very adamant, 'Oh no, I'm not gay,'" he recalls.

Raised Catholic, he found comfort and acceptance in the Episcopal church, and eventually was introduced to Time Out Youth, which offers outreach to area lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people.

Ivel vividly remembers the moment he came out to his mom.

"She used to light a candle every Saturday, and she would pray to her saint that I wasn't gay. She never told me what she was praying for; that was an assumption on my part. I finally said, 'Mom, you know that prayer you pray every Saturday?' She kind of froze, and I said, 'Perhaps you should try a different prayer, because it's not working.'"

Today, Ivel is a board member for Time Out Youth and regularly does speaking engagements for area groups. He was doing one at UNC Charlotte as his mom repeatedly tried to call him with the news of his Harvard acceptance letter.

"We're happy," says Aixa Martinez, warmly, "because he's happy."

Class valedictorian

Neither of Ivel's parents and none of his grandparents got beyond high school, although both his mother and his grandfather (on his mom's side) graduated toward the top of their respective classes.

"But because they were so adamant in their belief against the communist regime in Cuba, they were basically denied a college education," Ivel says. "In Cuba, when you're against the government and you're open about it, you're termed 'worms,' which in Spanish is 'gusanos.' It's this badge of inferiority. You're relegated to a second-class citizen status. So my mom - who had a passion for math - ended up being a maid at a hotel.

"My family was always adamant that that wasn't going to be my fate, and that's primarily why they moved to the U.S. They wanted to provide me with a better future."

On Saturday, he was named Butler's valedictorian. He will have his college education paid for almost entirely through grants and Harvard's endowment fund.

Aixa Martinez gets tears in her eyes just talking about her son's journey.

"When he was little, one time we were sitting home and I was talking about Harvard, and he said 'Mom, Harvard is for genius,'" she recalls, speaking in accented English.

"And I said, 'Well, you never know if you're gonna be one of those genius.'"

(See interesting comments on the Charlotte Observer story)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/06/13/1496773/just-average-not-to-harvard.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1337185&forum_id=1#15233741)